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TRAVELLER
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March 7, 2019
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www.fortleetraveller.com
coMManD sPoTligHT | poSt hoUSiNg UpDAtE
Command team gets to work addressing housing concerns Numerous corrective actions have been completed or are ongoing to remedy the Fort Lee Family Housing issues expressed by residents at the Feb. 27 town hall in the Lee Theater (see article, Page 3). My garrison leadership team met with representatives of Hunt Military Communities, our Army housing partner, the morning following the town hall to ensure all parties understood the level of concern and urgency we place on fixing any deficiency that jeopardizes the lives, health or safety of our Fort Lee families. Participants of that meeting and other update sessions over the past several days have shown they are invested in getting this right – which not only means making repairs and improving housing conditions, but also figuring out where the breakdowns in service and communication occurred in the past. It’s vital that we not allow the same detrimental practices to reoccur in the future. Following are some of the most prominent corrective measures implemented to date: • The Energy Conservation Program, which required residents to pay any utility costs above a $50 threshold every month, was temporarily suspended March 1 to be reviewed by Army leadership. • Similarly, Hunt and all other Army housing partners have temporarily suspended collection of non-refundable pet fees while Army leaders review the practice. Further guidance is forthcoming. • All barracks and homes – with notice to and consent of residents in family housing – are being visited by organizational chains of command to fully assess the scale and scope of on-post housing issues. This will be complete by March 18. The garrison command team delivered notices of the visit to the front doors of each home on post earlier this week.
Fort Lee
Commanding General ................... Maj. Gen. Rodney D. Fogg Garrison Commander ....................... Col. Hollie J. Martin Public Affairs Officer ............................. Stephen J. Baker Command Information/Managing Editor ...Patrick Buffett Senior Writer/Special Assignments .......... T. Anthony Bell Production/News Assistant Editor .................. Amy Perry Production Assistant............................... Ray Kozakewicz To reach the Traveller Staff, call (804) 734-7147.
We know this process will take time, and we have a lot of work to do to win back the confidence of our military families, particularly those most impacted by the inexcusable conditions and customer service described at the town hall session. Fortunately, I have observed genuine concern from the top leadership at Hunt. They have renewed their commitment to do what’s right in the long-run so occupants will not find themselves in the same predicaments in the future – and we will hold them to it. One important way we are doing that is by greatly increasing Army oversight of the housing partnership, establishing and making residents aware of channels they can use to alert us if they feel quality-of-life concerns are not being addressed or their home maintenance issues are not being resolved within timelines established by the housing partner. While the first step in resolving a housing issue here is to submit a work order with Hunt, the newly established commander’s hotline – 804-734-6300 – allows residents to initiate direct communication with myself and members of the garrison support team when they feel following that process has not resolved an issue to their satisfaction. We also launched a new webpage at home.army.mil/lee/ index.php/housing to provide information on housing issues, along with an online form that serves the same purpose as the hotline. We plan to hold more town halls in the future to encourage additional two-way, in-person dialogue and the exchange of ideas to improve our family housing neighborhoods, much like we saw at the Feb. 27 forum. As I emphasized when I stood before many of you at the theater last week, no service member or military family in this community should feel like their service to this nation is not appreciated, or that their concerns do not matter or should
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not be voiced for fear of repercussion. Each of you has my commitment – and that of every other senior leader here – to accept nothing less than the respectful treatment and enduring effort to provide the best quality of life possible for every member of our Fort Lee family.
– Col. Hollie J. Martin, Fort Lee Garrison Commander
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Patrick Buffett
Col. Hollie Martin, Fort Lee garrison commander, encourages on-post residents to speak freely about their home maintenance issues and living conditions during opening remarks at the Post Housing Town Hall Feb. 27 in the Lee Theater. Also pictured is Vincent Grewatz, director of IMCOM-Training, who spoke about the move to privatized housing. For more, see Page 3.